canoe;
model
- Museum number
- Am1842,1210.37
- Description
-
Canoe, model.
- Production date
- 1842 (before)
- Curator's comments
- This is a large, early miniature of a westcoast-style canoe, a type produced in large numbers by the Nuu-chah-nulth, Makah and Salishan peoples of Vancouver Island, Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula. This example was most likely collected on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
The miniature is finished to a high standard in yellow cedar, shaped by an expert carver well-familiar with this design of canoe. As with all miniature canoes from this region, the bow and stern are not in proportion to the hull by comparison with a full-sized canoe.
The westcoast canoe design features a high square stern and a jutting elongated bow with a triple-pointed bow. On a full-scale canoe these would be additions to the dug-out trunk, although on miniatures (as here) they are usual integral to the original piece. It is painted in a naturalistic dark blue colour scheme on the exterior, with a red interior. The underside of the hull is left unpainted. Along the exterior gunwales are single yellow lines, highlighted with shell inserts. This line is believed to depict the lightning serpent, a mythical creature renowned for its ability to hunt whales.
Whale hunting, usually for the Californian gray whale, was the most respected activity among the groups of the west coast of Vancouver Island, the preserve of chiefly families and the focus of much ceremonial, social and commercial activity. Whale hunting was an extremely arduous and hazardous activity, and a hunters trained, physically and spiritually, for years in order to be able to pursue such large quarry.
The circumstances under which Belcher obtained this miniature are unknown, but typical encounters between chieftains and European officials at this time suggest that the miniature would probably have been either a gift from the chieftain to his distinguished visitor, or the result of a valuable trade.
(Jack Davy, 4/8/2016)
- Location
- On display (G26/dc6)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1999 25 Jun-Present, BM Room 26; Gallery of North America, Case: "The Mowachaht of Vancouver Island"
- Acquisition date
- 1842
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Am1842,1210.37